Installation for utilizing the energy of sea waves



May zo, 1924. 1,494,804

E. .RAHM

INSTALLATION FOR UTILIZING`THE ENERGY OF SEA WAVES Filed Aug.' 2o. 192s Patented May 20, 1924.,

UNITED T EMIL RAI-IM, OF ZURICH, SWITZERLAND.

.Application filed August 20, 1923. Serial No. 658,396.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EMIL RAHM, a citizenof the Republic of Switzerland, residing at Zurich, Switzerland, have invented certain 5 new and useful Improvements in an Installation for Utilizing the Energy of Sea Waves, of ,which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing. 1 The present .invention consists in an installation for utilizing the energy of sea ywaves which` works with a high efficiency even when the waves are comparatively small.r

The device according tothe presen-t in- 15 vention comprises weighted Ycars adapted to Amove along rails arranged on a floating structure such as a pontoon, boat, raft etc., the movement of thev carsbeing caused by the raising and lowering of the longitudinal i ends .of the floating-structure, i. e. by the pitching movement, whereupon the cars run along the inclined rails, further a longitudinally disposedv shafting beingA provided with an operative connectionv between the Weightedcars and the shafting whereby the .movementof the cars along the rails imparts rotationto the shaft,A

A constructional. example of the device according to the invention is illustrated on the. accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section Vthrough thedevice along line I-I in F g- 2,

Fig. 2 is a plan View 4oit Fig. 1,

35 Fig. 3 is a cross-section along line IIIflII in Fig. 1.

' Fig. 4 is a cross-section along line IV-IV yinFig. 1.

Figs. v5 and showa detail on an enlarged 40 scale. f'

Referring now to the drawings, 1` denotes the ioatingV structure, for instance a pontoon,

which is provided with rails `2 and 3 ar- -ranged in the longitudinal direction of the 45 pontoon. Two weighted cars 4 and 5 having flanged wheels Glyfcr running on said rails 2fand 3- are connected together byf channels 7 and 8' to move in unison. Each fear is furtherprovided witha lbuEer 9 and 10 `respectively on which the spiral springs 50 11 act Jrior limiting vthe travel of the cars 1n a resilient manner, ,the buffers 9 and 10 respectively co-operating with the stationary buffers 12, and 1-3 respectively provided on the pontoon. On the topthe carsare pro- 55 vided with a double flanged guide Wheel 14: running along the guide rail 15 lixed to the underside .of the deck 16 of the pontoon. 17

and 18 denote the parts of the shaft passing freely throughv the cars and `provided with a right hand and left hand spiral groove 19 respectively;theshaft partsl 17 and 18 are connected together Vlcvyfmeans. of an intermediate shaft 20 on whicha fly-wheel 421 is fixed. The shafting ,is rotatably mounted in k65 bearings 22 and 23, preferably designed as thrust bearings', and in the bearing standards 24:,and 25. On the intermediate shaft 20 there islfurtheriixed a-gear wheel 26 l meshing with a gear wheelv27l on a counter- 70 `shaft 28 rotatably mounted in the standards y 24 and 25. A belt pulley 29 is fixed to the countershaft 2,8 anda belt 30 drives a belt pulley 31 on theshaft of the electric ,machine 32, a'tension pulley 30` being arranged for 75 tightening Ithe belt 30. f-

The means for operatively connecting a weighted car to its respective shaft comprise a free wheel mechanism shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6. A nut '33 engages with theA spiral groove 19 ofthe shaft part 17 or 18 Arespectively: On the outer periphery ofthe nutzthere' is loosely mounted a bush 34 secured against a displacement in the axial direction. byv the ,nuts 35,- 36 and the flanged portion '37 `of. the nuty 33. The bush 34 v.widens out at one end and is provided with teeth ory serrations 38 arranged onV the inner circumference, pawls 39: (io-,operating `with said teeth are rotatably ,mountedl on pins 40 screwed in the fianged portion 37 "of the nut 33; springs 40 press the pawls 39 towards the teeth 38..y Integral with .the bush 34 are twofgudgeons 41, L12,.;which ormthe pivot connections of levers'4l3, L1&4'turnably mounted, on pins 45, lo` fixed `to. a car 4 or 5 respectively.I The levers 4.3 and 44; extend beyond the pins 45 or 4,6 and have forked ends 47 provided with slots 48 into which pins 49 project. The pins 49 are fixed to sleeves 50 slidably arranged on vertical rods 5l and resiliently held inI a mid position by the spiral springs 52 and 53. This operative connection between the shaft parts and the cars permits a safe working of the installation even when the shafting and the rails are out of alignment. The pontoon can be anchored by means of a chain 54 to prevent it from drifting away.

The working of the above described device is as follows:

The waves will cause an alternate raising and lowering of the ends of the pontoon so that the rails 2 and 3 will be inclined alternately towards one end and towards the other. The cars will then move down the inclined rails and will thereby cause a rotation of the shafting. When, for instance, the right hand end of the pontoon in Fig. l has been raised the cars 4 and 5 have moved towards the left into their final position indicated in Fig. 1. During this movement the nut 33 operatively connected to the car 4 has caused a turning of the shaft part 17 in the clockwise direction while the nut 33 operatively connected tothe car 5 has been inoperative causing the free wheel mechanism to act. If now the cars move in the opposite direction the nut 33l operatively connected to the car 5 will turn the shaft part 18 in the clockwise direction and the free-wheel mechanism connected to the car 4 becomes active and so on. The y-wheel 21 causes the shafting to turn during short intervals betweenv the longer or shorter movements of the cars, so that on a comparatively rough sea a continuous generation of electric current is attained. l

Instead of an electric generator any other machine may be driven by the shaftings.

I claim:

l. An installation for utilizing the energy of sea waves comprising in combination a floating structure adapted to carry out pitching movements under the influence of the waves, rails arranged on said floating structure. cars adapted to run on said rails, a shafting having spiral grooved parts disposed parallel to said rails, operative connections between said spiral-grooved shaft parts of the shafting and the cars, whereby the movement of the cars along the rails causes a turning motion of the shafting, and a machine driven from said shafting and absorbing the energy thus derived from the sea waves.

An installation for utilizing the energy of sea waves comprising in combination a Vfloating structure adapted to carry out pitching movements under the influence of the waves, rails arranged on said floating structure, two heavily weighted cars connected together and adapted to run along said rails when the latter are inclined during the pitching movements, a shafting comprising a part provided with a left hand spiral groove and a part provided with a right hand spiral groove, said` parts disposed parallel to said rails,A operative connections bet-wen one ofy said spiral-grooved shaft parts and one of said cars and between the other shaft part and the other car, whereby the movement of the cars along the rails causes a turning movement of the shafting, and a machine driven from said shafting and absorbing the energy thus derived from the sea waves.

3. An installation for utilizing the energy of sea waves comprising in combination a floating structure adapted to carry out pitching movements under the inHuence n cars and between the other shaft part and y the other car, wherebyy the movement of the cars along the rails causes a turning movement of the shafting, and a machine driven from said shafting and absorbing the energy thus derived from the sea waves.

4. An installation for utilizing the energy of sea waves comprising in combination a` floating structure adapted to carryL out pitching movements under the influence of the waves, rails arranged on said floating structure, two heavilyweighted cars connected together and adapted to run along said rails when the latter are inclined during the pitching movements, a shafting comprising a part provided with a' left hand spiral groove and a part provided with a right hand spiral groove, said parts disposed parallel to said rails, operative connections between one of said spiral grooved shaft parts and one of said cars and between the other shaft part and the other car and including a nut in engagementwith said spiral groove, a bush in which said nut is rotatably mounted and ksecured against displacement 'in the axial direction, serrations on said bush, pawls mounted on saidv nut and cooperating with said serrations and forming a free wheel mechanism, links interposed between the bush and the car, so that the movement of the cars along the rails causes a turning motion of the shafting, and a ma- 'chine driven from said shafting and absorbing the energy thus derived from the sea longitudinally of the structure, operative Waves. l connections between said shafting and oars 5. An installation of the character dewhereby the movements of the latter impart 10 scribed comprising a oating structure; cars rotation to the shafting, and mechanism opv mounted in and reoproeable longitudinally erated by the rotation of the shafting.

of the structure by the movements of the lat- In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ter, a spirally grooved shafting extending EMILv RAHM. 

